Hearn said he was working out of the country at the time, and had offered to pay the HOA in advance, but it refused to take the payment. He was told he could pay later.

A years-long battle ensued when the HOA instead tried to foreclose. Hearn said the HOA was asking for $26,000 in attorney’s fees and fines.

A Bexar County jury instead said that the HOA should receive $946.71 for association dues and that the HOA’s attorney should get $728 in fees.

But it also awarded Hearn $11,000 in legal fees.

“For three years I’ve been trying to pay the assessment,” Hearn said. “The jury said the HOA was unreasonable in collecting.”

HOAs file hundreds of lawsuits each year against residents in Bexar County.

The HOA in Mission Creek last year threatened for foreclose on more than 80 homes — more than 20 percent of the neighborhood — for unpaid dues. But the HOA ultimately did not follow through on the foreclosures.

And in 2004 HOAs filed to foreclose on 370 properties, and 53 went forward to a county auction. In most cases, the houses became the property of the homeowner association.

If a homeowner association does foreclose, Texas homeowners have a 180-day right of redemption.

For that reason, investors usually stay away from purchasing such homes at auction.

But it still can cause problems to snowball for homeowners. An HOA foreclosure might trigger the first lien holder — the mortgage lender — to foreclose, too.

State. Sen. Jeff Wentworth wrote a guest column in April about the HOA foreclosure issue.

“I expect bills to be filed that would limit the foreclosure power of HOAs when the Legislature convenes in January 2011. Hopefully, answers for many of the problems surrounding the regulation and authority of HOAs can be agreed upon during the time between regular legislative sessions,” Wentworth wrote.